Thank you!!
What’s unfair about it? Sophomores don’t meet the criteria to qualify for recognition. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation administers the competition and, by definition, the competition is not for high school sophomores. Not sure how you define “unfair”, but this situation doesn’t meet my definition.
I got an index score of 212 (1410/1520) and I should at least be commended but NOOOOO I’m not a junior 
I think it’s more than fair that you get another chance in a year to try for National Merit semifinalist.
I guess
You can qualify NMSF your second year of high school if you are graduating on three years. I agree with others that if you take the test junior year odds are your score would be better. As for NMSF being a huge accomplishment I think for some it is for others not so much. It’s still an award, semi finalist or commended, that most kids don’t get.
@amycee If you are a sophomore you, unfortunately, do not qualify for NMS this year. But on the positive side of things, if you achieved a 1410 sophomore year, that score is likely to increase by junior year!
@amycee My kid got 1400 as a sophomore, and then got 1480 on the PSAT, SSI = 221 (that was the cutoff here in IL last year, so waiting to see whether he’ll be a semifinalist). So, if you put a bit of effort into preparing for the PSAT, you could very definitely do well enough to be a NMSF semifinalist.